System of aerial railways



J'. D. ROOTS.

sYsTE-M oF AERIAL MLwAvs. AFPLICATI-ON FILED JAN 29, 1920. 1 ,438,862 Patented Deo. 12, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

6r LLAMA/Q Afri/wf f J. D. ROOTS.

SYSTEM 0F AERIAL RAILWAYS. APPLICATION men 1AN.29, 1920.

Patented DBG. 12, 1922.

3 sHETs-sHEET 2.

J. D. ROOTS. SYSTEM 0F AERIAL RAILWAYS. APPLICATION FILED IAN. 29, 1920.

Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET (i.

LlO

acting with the Patented Dec. l2, i922.

narra rai/ins :Dennis noo're, or wns'r irnirsrncf'rori, ronnonnnenann Application :filed January 29,1920. Serial No. 3545976;

To all ful/wm 'it may concern Be it known that l, 2li-mins Dennis Roo'rs7 a subject oli' the King oi' Great Britainyresiding at 58 rivonmore Road, Nest Kensington, Londomllll. lil, England, have invented a System of aerial Railway/spor' which the following is the specification.

The object of this invention is to'provide a new system or method oiand means tor an aerial railway especially tor crossing arms of they sea, straits, or channels that it is impossible to bridge. or impossible or nonpaying to tunnel, and that may be used where desirable over land areas where great speeds may be obtained for cari' ying` relatively light loads. N here carried over thesea-it' may be carried at such a height asto be considerably above the highest masts so as to preclude the possibility ot any interference with navigation.

l provide a plurality ol towers or masts which may conveniently be olf steel and may be of the lattice or trellis type of construction or similar thereto, 4and a steel cable is stretched from the tops ot the two towers or over moreA oiisuch towers according to the length of rail required.

rllhe steel cable is not intended to carry a y load, or only a relatively small amount, under normal conditions at any time.

. l so construct or adapt an air-ship as to run along the saidrail. rllhe airship is provided with two or more deeply grooved or double iianged wheels secured uponaXles .or fixed shal'ts preferably with roller bearings. Tl e said grooves inthe wheels lit over ann engage the said cable. y y

The wheels are arranged in pairs one such pair oi' wheels is iitted beneat the airship or aeroplane and under the forward end at each side, and the other set under the rearend oi" the aircraft on each side.

Two such ropeways or cables may be arranged preferably horizontally and parallel or side by side withrelation to each other.

l may prefer to provide a rudder or rudders at the forward end of the'airship or .aeroplane as well as at the rear in order that by co-operation of therudders and elevators at each end, the ythrustoifthe propellers eorudders, may relievey the cable or cables as laras possible oi all lateral wind stresses.v y f r The cables are anchored to earth `in the rear ot a long hangar, vwhich tormstheteiaw minusy station so that when by the air brakes the machine slackens speed it may be pro. tected from the Jrorce of the wind. y

, The. ropeways thus arranged in parallel pairs oi rope tracks are in .order to make them as nearly straight as possible and with the minimum oi catenary dip or sag in the middle between the tower or trestle or mast supports, or each pair of saine,v provided with ra carrier orsuppor'ting rope for 4eachl raily rope7 `which carrier rope is given the most suitable ydegree or extent ot'sag and intermediate supporting` ropes of smaller guage or diameter are provided connecting the `carrier and rail' ropes together after the manner of a suspension bridge support. The said sag will be determined by the distance between the successive supporting towers or trestles.

l am aware that it has been proposed bei fore to support a single rail rope by a. carrier rope with intermediate suspension ropes in 'order to bring to a minimum thev catenary sag the rail rope. y f

@n the pair 'of parallel ropes or rails `ior `the aircraft between which and under restraint ofwhich the aircraft flies, that is to 'say7 the aircraft under normal conditionsot running,` relieves the two rope rails of load by weight and the steering eiiiect relieves it of load by wind stresses due to pressure oi wind on the aircra'l't. The ropes therefore under normal conditions serve as guide tracks, there being normally always a ten` denoy or' theaircrait to litt the ropewayA at the point of" contactoi the wheels with the ropes. i t

l construct an airship with a ytransverse spar or member in the fore part of same carrying preferably two grooved wheels one pair at each end of the span or diameter to engage the ropeways, and a second similar soar or member' at the rear end of the craft having similar pair of grooved wheels at each end of same. l may provide means for carryingthe said eight grooved wheels upon the` airship by extensions of Jthe present framework of saine, uponv which extensions the said wheels are mounted. In an aero plane the wheels are likewise secured to AeX- tensions ot the main spars as afterward y shown. r

lie

a hundred'an'd twenty feet.

inches diameter and a dip or sag of say two In carrying such a ropeway across the'sea or' straits the towers are built on large caissons, sunlr 1n suitable positions and filled with cement earth `and the like.

.Means may be provided to limit or pre` vent independent wind swing of each pair of ropes by cross or transverse rope connections of the carrier ropes or of suspension ropes.

0r the transverseV connection may taire the form of va steeltube of greater diameter in the centre tapering to the ends.

The rail rope lis preferably connected to the suspension fropes by means of two steel plates for supporting` the former. The plates Aare provided with a half round groove at their edges adapted to grip the rope' when clamped together by bolts, eachplate being tapered "also toj an edge at outside of the groove and also at the ends in order to provide at entrance and` leaving of Jthe wheels` as gradual an ascent aspossible for the upper wheels, and a similar gradual vdescentfor the lower wheels in passing` over'v the plates. Thermain plate has a rightV angled or curved bend to permit of the passage of the wheels and the suspension rope is suitablysecured at thetop of thev plate. One or both of the wheels may be carried on springs secured to the aircraft in order that while the spring or springs may tend to be pressed together to hold the wheels on the rope, allowance may bel made for the iny creased'thickness or diameter of the supporting plates relatively to the rail rope7 and to permit the distance between the wheel frentres to be increased, as well as to provide smoother running. y

- The aircraft is preferably provided with such a number ofy internal combustion engines, each with a propeller, that two out of Vsix for example, may fail, without causingr the failure of the aircraft. v

I may provide means for automatically operating the front and rear rudders and elevators upon the aircraft when the lateral or vertical stresses upon the ropeway, the Aformer due to wind, have reached a predeter- `mined amount, by for example the heeling of the airship upon the ropeway. The high speed of the airship thus co-operatingwith the action of the rudders will automatically. relieve the ropeway of all excessive stresses, especially during gusts of wind. Thevsaid rudders and elevators will also have'ineans for control lat will of the usual kind.

The main novel features of this system arer l. The aircraft is run from fixed point to rvpoint under restraint of rails or ropeways to ensure safety in reaching destination at all "times, andto eliminate thatelement of lgreat Jriskvat all times existing but especially durngfog: while retaining only partly reduced kfect to the rail or'rope over which it'passes,

with the consequence that there is no additional sag on the ropeway at that part at the moment guiding or carrying the aircraft and the friction upon the `wheels and their bearings is thus a minimum. 4

The ylateral wind stresses which would otherwise come upon the ropeway due to the wind pressure upon the aircraft especially an airship are met as far as possible by turning the rudder to a suitable angle and in some cases employing fore and aft rndders for this purpose.

4. That the aircraft-is kept. at a high rate of speed from station to station in order to fulfill the conditionexpressed in paragraph v3 and screens are provided at the 'stations to tion as quickly as possible, which as stated is provided with lateral screens with or without a roof, the ropeway passing through the stal` tion thus formed.

Reference should be made to the accompanying sheetsy of drawings which illustrate the preferred manner of carrying the invention into effect.

Fig. l is a view in elevation of the novel system showing an airship ruiming upon a pair of ropeways.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1. y

F 3 is an end view of the half section of an airship with the means of support of the rail rope on'the inner side of the lattice tower.

Fig. 4- isa half section of an airship with the means of support of therail rope from the carrier rope.

'Fig 5, Sheet 2, is a sectional View of a portion of an airship frame showing au arrangement of rail rope carrier rope and snspension rope.

6 is an elevation-of a portion of the rail and carrier and suspension ropes as shown in Fig. 5. e

Fig. 7 is an end view of the wheels yand the securing means of the rail rope to the lattice tower.

Fig. 8, Sheet 3, is a plan view of an aeroplane as mounted upon aerial ropeways. e Fig. 9 is an end View of an aeroplane so mounted.

Fig.v l0 is a detail view of the two wheels and one wing of the aeroplane.

Fig. y11 is an end view of a pairof lwheels and-springs of same.

4 Figi lQ-is; aview offthejtail plane fof same with its wheels onLthe railrope'. p

A A arethe` trellis towers or other suit- Nable supports for the carrier alndrope rail- Jways'zxof 'the system, exampleI shown 1n Figs.

,l and` 2. In order to arrangefthel trellis towersor supports as widely apart as 'possible and yet toenable. the rail rope tobe as iai' as possible astraight liner'and` without g v sag thereon, each oi the two raillropes B 1s supported on the two respective carrier ropes C! which areseoured upon the tops ofthe towers or trellis `supports A, .or upon transverse girders A1 upon the supports or towers A, each rail rope B isl supported its carrier rope C by means of suspension ropes D.l The suspension ropes Dare secured to the carrier ropesC, C, at suitable intervals apar.t,and the two carrier ropes C, are arranged with the necessary degree, or the minimum suitable degree of sa g' or catenaryV dip for the distance apart Vof the trellis towersor. supports A.v Thelower end of each suspension rope D' has clamped `or bolted therein'r` steel supports orfcarrying meansE,

these are shownto a larger scale in Fig. 5. Tliec'arrierE consistsrof a steel curvedarm El havingv meansat the upper endVv for` clamping orsecuring the suspension rope D.

The clampingmeans `consist ofV a plateE tormed'integrally with the support arm E having a groove' or recess therein to receive the rope D' and thelplateE` is bolted lto the plate Ex and'clarnpfsthe suspension rope D between the two plates.

The lower end of the steel'carrier E is widenedintoa rela-tively thin steel plate E3 and atlit'souter edge a half roundgroove E" this manner into a thin plate to clamp the rope with its corresponding clamping plate so that at the engaging position of the grooved wheels Gr, G1, there shallbe the minimum resistance `or obstacle provided v against the passage ot' thesaid wheels over the carrier, from therailrope Bu and on to vthe .rope again, andfor this purpose `the carriers E are arran'ged'on the two rail and carrier ropes notexactly opposite each other but slightly staggered so that the wheels on the one side of the aircraft as afterward described shall enter upon and leave the carrier plates E4 and F before the correspondingwheels on the otherside engage with the thin carrier plates clamping the rope B. e

wheels.

The'jtwo carrier ropes C are secured in parallel'relation on the top of the supports or towers A or the trellis girder connecting ythenrA1 and the two rail ropes B are also parallel-*with each other throughout, each railrope being immediately beneath its supporting carrier rope supported at `intervals therefrom by the y vertical suspension ropes- D.

F'igs.` "and Il' indicate diagrammatically two `half` sections of an airship S, the one haltsection S1, F igB, being shown when the airship is passing on the rail rope B one `of the pillars or trellis towers A showing a bracket il secured to the left hand side pillar ofthe trellis support A. The

4bracket at this point carries the rail rope .B and a bracket is shown to alarger scale in Fig.` 7. The'other half section Fig. 4 is shown when thel airship is at an intermedi ato or' approximately `midwaypositionv betweenthe `supports A asshown in Fig. lL

` rlhe carriers E secured to the suspension ropes D are shown to a `larger scale in- Figs. vand'b.

1 Stitlening or strengthening spare l are provided within the airship' S to carry vthe laniinated'springs l ,to the ends of which lsprings the short or stub axles K are'rigidly bolted,` upon which axles the grooved wheels G, G1, `are mounted. Portions of the training S2 of the vship areshown in Figs. 3,4, 5 and `7. v

The. two wheels G, Gr?, areon, opposite sides of, one above and the other below, the rail'rop'e B, andas shown in Figs. 1,2, 3 andl, one ksuch pair of wheels engage both steel ropes B B on theV fore part of the airship S, .one pair on each side ot' the airship and two pairs of corresponding wheels similarly engage each rope B at the rear part ot the airship and on both sides of same, so

that there are four pairsV of such grooved Operating normally there will always be a lift action in the lighter than air vessel S as also in the aeroplane P, and consequently only the tour wheels G1 engaging `the two ropes beneath same need bein actual `pressure Contact.

rlhe upper four flanged or groovedwheels G serve to assist in re- `taining the airship on the rail ropes while runningnornially and would only come into rictional or pressure engagement with the two ropes in the event of the airship losing buoyancy to a sucient degree or in the casej ofan `aeroplane to lessen speed.'

' ylfliere being eight wheels secured tothe airs lip by the `springs J, four above and four below the pair of `rail ropes B, the grooves in the wheels thus engaging the ropes on both sides` vertically provide additional security against the airship leaving the ropes in a high'wind, and to meet and relieve lateral wind pressure upon the airship the rudder is set kat an angle in such iis " lighter grooved wheels ,a manner if the yairshi'p wereiree it would turn its head into the wind, thereby' relieving the rail ropes of lateral stresses.

Figs. 8, 9, l0, ll and l2, Sheet 3, show the employment ot. a heavier than `air machine, an aeroplane, to the system of aerial .railways similarly arranged as described with raill ropes l carrier ropes C and suspension ropes l with reference to the fore-y going figures. The aeroplane P -has its lfour vmain wing 'sparslil or each wing L stiffened in order vrto carry the laminated springs J which, are bolted orl secured. to the ends of each of the spare M. Ontheouter ends of -thesprings J are bolted the stub ,axles K upon which `.are mounted the grooved wheels (l di.' The grooved wheelsG are securedto the t'ron-tspars'of each wing, and thewheels Il? to the rear spars of eachv wing. Ilfher grooved .wheels G as vshown engage the rail y.ropes B, B, on each side of the aeroplane on the top ot the rail rope and the `tour flanged or grooved wheels G1 on the under side of same.y

The aeroplae Pshown is of lthe twin'en# gined type. Theftail plane Ois preferably of extended span and may be of the lifting type. lt is provided with 'front and rear mainuspars N in a similar manner to those of the wings, and on the end of each spar N arey fitted. similar laminated ksprings J and stub .axle K carr in` smaller and 1, as shown in Fig. l2, vengaging respectively above and below the railrope B as before described.

In a similar manner to that before described with respectv to the airship 1S the `rudder Q may bybeing `placedat a suitable anglel relieve the parallel ropes B of lateral wind stresses while theaeroplane is travelling at a yhigh speed.

ln Fig. il the springs are shown secured jropes of the ropeway, the wheels being arranged at the sides of the aircrar't, and guiding and maintainingit midway between the two ropeways.

ropes, kcarrier ropes,

2. 4In `anaerial railway system orguiding aircraftin flight, two rail ropesarranged `in parallel relation, twocatenarian and parallel carrier ropes or cables sup- *portedV abovethe rail ropes, suspensionoru supporting ropes connecting ythe rail and carrier ropes at intervals, andan aircraft capable of free flight'and guided between the two ropeways spaced apart with the aircraft between, .the -ropeways In an aerial railway system the ropes being catenarian carrier ropes rail ropes. below the carrier ropes, vertical suspensiony ropes connecting the rail and rcarrier ropes,l and an .air shipcapable of free iiight'aiid guided by thetwo ropeways `which are spaced apart with lthe yairship tween the'iopeways.

.4.' lnanv aerial railway system, parallel rail ropes, an airship mounted totravel on "the4 rail ropes and between the said ropes,

and a rudder mounted onthe air shipand arranged' at an angle `to they rail a'opes,`

whereby the rail ropes will be relievedof lateral wind stresses.

5. In anaerial railwayl system for guid-y ing aircraft in flight, a ropeway having rail suspension ropes secured to the carrier ropes, yand metallic curvedl arms `having their upper endssecured to the suspension ropes and provided at theirlower ends with means for holding and supporting the rail ropes. 6.` ln an' aerial railway system, a ropeway,

v an aeroplane having strengthening wing spars, and a'grooved wheel mounted on the outer end of each Wing spar andadapted to engage thero'pe of the ropeway.

7. In an aerial railway systemfor guiding aircraftin flight, supports, a ropeway, brackets secured lto the supports, each p forl guidling aircraft in light, spaced supports,ffour ropes supported by the supports, two of Vparallel with each and the other two being bracket comprising two metallic plates hav-l l ing half round grooves and secured together and clamping a rope of the ropeway, and an air craft traveling on the ropeway.

- 8.111 an aerial -railway system, parallel rail ropes,`an aeroplane, and two pairsk of grooved wheels mounted on each side ofthe aeroplane at the outerends of the wings,

"the wheels 4engaging the upper and lower surfaces of the rail ropes, both being farranged in the vertical plane of the rail ropes, one above andA the other below the said rail ropes. y JAMES DENNIS ROOTS.. 

